Tue 12 Dec 2017
6.30pm

Event Details

Contemporary artist Oscar Enberg's new short film is a tragicomedy in five acts; an assemblage of traditional linear narrative, documentary, absurdist theatre, dramatic re-enactment, and social realism. In Red Beryl and crocodile, Opal (Irrational Exuberance in the White Man’s Hole), Enberg’s abiding interest in the 'boom and bust’ logic of speculative industries is concentrated on the Opal-mining town of Coober Pedy. Settled in 1915, the extreme desert temperatures force Coober Pedy residents to live underground in emptied out ex-mine shafts–- the town’s name is from the indigenous language; "kupa piti" translates to "white man in hole”.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the artist and Natasha Conland, Curator, Contemporary Art.

Red Beryl and crocodile, Opal (Irrational Exuberance in the White Man's Hole) was filmed in Coober Pedy, South Australia and at the Kanku – Breakaways Conservation Park with the kind permission of the Antakirinja Matu- Yankunytjatjara Aboriginal Corporation on behalf of the Aboriginal traditional owners, the District Council of Coober Pedy and the Board of the Kanku – Breakaways.

The artist would like to acknowledge the generous support of Creative New Zealand toi Aotearoa, Jan Warburton, Chartwell Trust, Wallace Media, Interrogate, Artspace Sydney, and Hopkinson Mossman.